Pup & Pal exists because two picky Australian Shepherds refused to eat boring treats. Here is how that turned into a dog treat business.
approved by two very tough critics
Canada, a few years back
Back in Canada, we bought a bag of fancy "premium" dog treats. Mila sniffed one, looked up at us, and walked away. Luna took hers, trotted off, and hid it in the couch cushions. We found it three weeks later.
That was the moment. If our own dogs wouldn't eat it, why were we paying for it? We flipped the bag over, read an ingredient list longer than a grocery receipt, and decided to make our own.
a lot of flour on the floor
Our first try came out of the oven hard enough to use as a doorstop. The second one crumbled into dust. The third smelled great and the dogs still weren't impressed.
Then, somewhere around batch five, it happened. Luna sat perfectly still without being asked, and Mila did a spin we had never taught her. We had found it. Soon friends were asking for a bag, and then friends of friends.
moving day
When we moved to the United States, the furniture went on a truck. The recipes came with us in a carry-on, because some things you don't risk losing.
Today we bake in Mesa, Arizona, every single week, in small batches. Nothing sits in a warehouse. The bag you get was most likely on our baking tray just a few days ago.
the one rule we never break
If Luna and Mila walk away from it, it doesn't get made.
They are picky, honest, and impossible to bribe. Every recipe goes through them first.
Our head taste-testers, and the reason any of this exists. No treat leaves our kitchen until these two have approved it, and they take the job very seriously.
They moved countries with us, sat through every failed batch, and still get the first taste of everything we make.
